Lifetime Tempe Triathlon

It's not normal for summer to be my 'off-season' but considering my foot (bunion) surgery in early June (the week after the DQ Lavallette Triathlon) it was full-bed rest for me for at least 6 weeks. Sure enough, 6 and a half weeks later (late July), I was cleared to do exercise again! It started off with some easy swimming and short riding, but within a few weeks I was back into a regimented swimming and riding schedule. In early August, Darby and I made a spontaneous decision to enter DQ Events Belmar Tri, which I have been racing since I was 13! My swim and bike totaled out to 33:21 (400m swim & 10 mile bike), which I was happy with considering I had only been cleared for 2 and a half weeks and how crowded the course was (I started in the last wave). We managed to win the overall relay division (results here, strava here), which was a pretty neat boost of confidence to end the summer. I (somehow) managed to hold off on running until early September, where I took it very easy for the week and then decided I would be able to race Lifetime Tempe Tri the next weekend!

absolute pain cave (in Belmar)

Fast forward to race weekend: knowing it was going to be a hot day, that wasn't necessarily something that was going to slow me down, considering I've been racing in the New Jersey summer humidity for 7 years now. Going into the race, I knew that my swim was going to be solid, my bike had potential to be fast, and the run was not going to be pretty, since I had been (easily) running for less than 2 weeks leading into the race, along with not having run a full 10k since before surgery.

On race morning, transition set-up was routine and uneventful. And with the luck of the draw, I had a poor spot in transition, being pretty far down one of the rows, it added considerable time during transitions to rack my bike and such. But that was not going to stop me from having quick transitions.

snapchat saw it first

The water in Tempe Town Lake (ew) was a warm 83 degrees and I didn't even bring my wet-suit which was a good idea. For the in-water start, I positioned myself right in the front line and when the gun went off, I surged right out front before the bridge (about 200m in). After that it was smooth sailing, right into the sun, which did make sighting challenging. At one point, where I couldn't see any further buoys, I picked my head up and asked the stand-up paddle boarders "Do I turn here?" and they replied, "no, just follow us" which made sighting the rest much easier, because I just had to follow them. After cruising to the first turn, I made the turn and made some quick looks back to see the gap I had. After making the second turn to head back to the swim exit, I picked up the tempo a bit and started to shift my focus on the rest of the race after seeing that I had a sizable lead at this point of the swim. The rest of the swim was uneventful and I ran up the stairs out of the water. I heard my name announced along with "a Wildcat getting it done in the shadows of ASU" which was pretty funny to hear.

first our of the water...wheres my right leg?

Transition 1 was fast and quick. I un-racked my bike and as I was running out of T1, I saw the next people behind me into T1! My lead was much larger than I had thought! I mounted my bike and was on my way! The police motorcycle escort was just out in front of me and I was out on the bike!

With the lead I had, I made the game-time decision to hammer the bike and see what I could do on the run when I got to the run. The first lap of the bike was uneventful (except when my water bottle hit my garmin and stopped by ride, check out my strava files here and here) but some of the turns definitely took me by surprise with how sharp they were. Close to the end of the first lap, my gel came off my bike, which was unfortunate, but wasn't enough to make me panic. This made me really focus on making sure I was regularly drinking water throughout the ride. On the run in towards the second lap, I was caught by the overall winner (who went 1:59:53) and another rider, from Air Force Academy. On the second lap, the course began to get much more crowded. With the rest of the international distance athletes and even some of the sprint riders out on the course. Although this was a nice boost of confidence, passing many riders (even those with faster bikes). Having a lap course was nice because on the second lap I knew where I should push and where to slightly relax. Knowing my run fitness was poor, I decided to push the second lap of the bike harder than normal, since I was still sitting comfortably in 2nd place for Collegiate and 3rd overall. Not having any fuel on the bike did not yield well, as it became very easy to lose focus on the latter half of the bike. After hitting a dropped water bottle on the road, I snapped out of it and was able to maintain focus for the rest of the ride, continuing to keep the throttle down.

first lap on the bike, #aero

Riding back into transition was ideal, but the last few riders were exiting the T1 to go out and ride, I had to dodge a few of them, which allowed me free range of all the other space in transition, as there were no other athletes in T2 with me. I racked my bike, threw on my shoes, took off my helmet, and I was on my way to run!

Coming out of the run at the first aid station, I took on a gel, a cup of water on my head, and sipped another half of a cup of water. I threw the gel in my tri-suit, for about a minute, then decided that it was time to take it since I had no fuel on the bike, and I knew my run fitness was not good so I was going to need all the help I could get on the run to maintain a solid position. Through the next aid station, I took on more water, too cool myself off and some to drink. Right around mile 2, Conrad passed me (s/o Every Man Conrad, buy some EMJ) and gave some words of encouragement, which are always helpful. After struggling through the first lap, I composed myself, and came to the realization I was already half way through the run. On the second lap, I took on another gel at the first aid station and did all I could to wash it do along with trying to cool myself off. Pacing myself on the second lap was definitely harder, since there was a mix of Olympic distance racers on their first lap, a few others on their second lap, and many other Sprint(ers) on their run. Nonetheless, I tried to be steady for the first mile on that second lap, then pick it up for miles 4 and 5, and then give it all I've got left. And considering I hadn't run more than 5.5 miles in over 3 months, it definitely was not much.

down the chute!

Anyways, I came off the bridge and made the turn for the chute! Finishing without anyone other athletes near me was nice as I was able to enjoy my run in to the finish and enjoy it, before I had to deal with the post race issues (blisters, cramps, stomach pains, heat rash, etc). I came across the line in a huge sigh of relief, I was able to cruise the swim, push the bike, and I was able to run the full 10K after all of that, let alone for the first time in a long time. Ecstatic to find out that I had finished on the podium in the Collegiate Division, and 8th overall at such a large event, the bar has been set for the rest of the year.

#podium

Thanks to @UATricats for the awesome weekend, Lifetime Tri for the awesome event, and all the support from family, friends, and family friends throughout the summer and my recovery! I'm back!

For full results of the race, click here!